Camp Robin: Step by Step
by BrotherBat
Summary: Dick really wants to go camping with his brothers, but they're reluctant to go. Can he convince them all to join him? More importantly, can they even all survive a car trip together? Family and nature collide in this fanfic where brotherhood is put to the ultimate test! Brotherly fluff
1. Chapter 1

**Step One: Recruitment**

 **Dick's POV**

"There is absolutely no way that I would ever go camping with you," Jason tells me, turning away from the night sky view of Gotham in front of us to look at me, making me realise just how intimidating his helmet can be.

"Awww come on, Hood," I reply, "we never get to do fun civilian stuff together anymore."

I've been planning this camping trip for a month, I know exactly the location and all the best activities for us to do. I've been looking forward to this so much I couldn't stop myself from telling basically anyone who would listen all about it, as long as they promised to keep it a secret. The only thing left is to get my brothers on board to join me, which is already turning out to be harder than I'd hoped. I figured being in costume, on a rooftop with a great view, after a night of beating up criminals together was the perfect time to ask Jason... guess not.

"That's because our night activities are way more entertaining than- I don't know, roasting marshmallows," he shrugs, turning back away from me.

"Have you ever tried a roasted marshmallow? I feel like you wouldn't be able to say that if you had."

"I haven't and I won't. So-"

"Please?" I beg, pouting and holding my hands together, "it would really mean a lot to me if you came."

He looks at me for a second, "You know, that face doesn't work nearly as well with you in costume. But, I guess we could make a deal-"

"YES!" I yell, raising my arms in the air and swinging my legs from over the edge of the roof.

"You didn't hear what the deal is yet..."

"I'm sure whatever it is, I'll accept it."

"You shouldn't have said that."

"Nah, I can trust you, Hood. It can't be that bad," I give him a smile.

"Okay. If I go, you have to for a week of my choosing, complete all of your patrols wearing your old Robin outfit."

Ah, that's- uhm... pretty bad. Okay, play it cool, maybe I can make this a little more bearable.

"Fine. But why do you even want me to do that anyway? What do you get out of it? I would have thought a month without me being able to ask you for any favors would be pretty useful," I shrug, trying to keep my smile from dropping. Must. Look. Calm. Take the bait, Jason.

"Yeah, that would be good. But this way I get to follow you around and watch people react to you in those undies. That should make the camping all worth it. Glad we've made a deal though," he says as he gets up and readies his grappling hook.

I have made a huge mistake...

* * *

 **Damian's POV**

"Camping? Why? Is this a training exercise?" I ask.

"Not really, but you can look at it that way if you prefer," Grayson replies.

"So you want to leave the manor to go and sleep in some forest, for fun?"

"Well it's not just any forest, Haly's circus camped out there once when I was a kid. I have really great memories of it. Plus I think it would be really nice for us to go on our first vacation together, no missions or costumes, just us having fun."

"Ah, I understand. You seek to relive those memories, and for that you require my company," I suppose I could sacrifice my time for such a cause, for Grayson at least.

"Kinda," he nods before rubbing the back of his neck, "but it's not just your company I require..."

I knew this sounded too reasonable to be true.

"No."

"Really, Dami? It seemed like you were on board a second ago."

"I will admit, I was considering it. But I refuse to go anywhere with Todd and Drake for an extended period of time," especially not as a civilians, in costume they can sometimes be useful... on occasion.

"I didn't even say it was them."

"Is it?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"No," I cross my arms.

Grayson drops his head and sighs, "so I guess nothing will convince you to come?" he asks, sounding defeated already. He's giving up much faster than usual in fact, that's very unlike him.

I eye Grayson suspiciously, "Is something wrong?"

He lifts his head back up and I can tell from his face he's trying to hide his disappointment, "I just figured my brothers wouldn't be so reluctant to spend some time with me, I guess I'm what's wrong..."

Damn you, Grayson.

"-tt- Stop thinking such ridiculous things... I'll attend your stupid camping trip."

"YOU WILL?" he yells, his face lighting up.

"If it's the only way for you to stop this ridiculous self pity act, but I don't promise to enjoy it."

He grabs me from under my arms and lifts me above him, "Thanks, Dami. I promise you won't regret it."

"Put me down, Grayson," I demand, trying to wiggle myself free.

"Not yet," he says, pulling me into his chest as he swings around, "I want to savour this moment, we're going on our first proper vacation together."

I may have made a mistake...

* * *

 **Dick's POV**

I'm going to feel really bad about the way I got Damian on board if he doesn't have a great time. Worst case I'm sure I can find a way to make it up to him though, he seemed pretty up for a trip with just me and him, I could always do that. Regardless, this has been exhausting, but that's two down and only one more to go, plus Tim should be the easiest to convince. I shouldn't owe him a really embarrassing favor by the end of it anyway.

So why am sitting in front of him right now, too nervous to ask him such a simple question?

"Uh... Dick?"

"Sorry, just a little nervous. This is kinda make or break I guess."

"What are you talking about?" he asks.

Here we go.

"Tim, would you like to come on a camping trip with me, Jason and Damian?"

There's a pause.

"That's out of nowhere," he replies before looking into the distance, clearly considering his answer.

"Well for you it is, yeah. I've been planning this for a while though..."

He looks back at me with an interested expression, "how long?"

"About a month. It started when I thought of this place the circus went to when I was a kid, then I thought I'd see what was around there just out of interest. It turned out there was lots of cool stuff, then I thought about doing all of that with you guys..." I realise I forgot about being nervous for a second as I started to get excited about my plans.

"Wow, I guess you've really thought this out. Have you gotten Jason and Damian to agree to go yet?"

"Yeah, it wasn't easy but they agreed to come. If you do, that is, it wouldn't be the same if anyone was missing," I try to discern Tim's decision from his face, but he doesn't give anything away until he looks me in the eyes and says-

"Of course I'll join you," before giving me a grin, "I could never say no to something you've worked so hard on. I mean, dealing with being in close contact with Damian for a few days will be... interesting. But-"

I can't help myself, I leap into Tim for a hug, "thank you so much. I guarantee we'll have lots of fun together."

"Uh, you're welcome, I guess. Were you really that worried I was going to say no?" he asks.

It does seem silly now that he mentions it, I guess how it went with Damian and Jason got me worked up. But it's fine, my work didn't go to waste. So now I can just look

forward to us having a great vacation.

* * *

 **Step Two: The Trip**

 **Tim's POV**

I take one last look at everything I've prepared on top of my bed, making sure I haven't missed anything before I put it all in my backpack. I like to have something available for every possible situation, that's why I've always loved utility belts, I can't count the amount of times my preparation has come in handy, or even saved my life. The only problem is it takes forever to get ready to go anywhere. I usually make up for it by planning enough time ahead, but camping is kind of a new situation, so my estimations were off and I really need to get packing or the others are going to be waiting for me. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure I haven't forgotten anything, so I start to fill my backpack as swiftly as possible. If I do this right, there should be just enough space to fit everything in, but I start to panic as my alarm I set to leave goes off. I know Dick won't mind waiting for me, but I don't want to give Damian or Jason any more reason to be cranky on the drive, it's important for Dick that this all goes well and I don't want to be the one to screw that up.

I brush the sweat off my forehead and breathe a sigh of relief as I close the final zip on my backpack. I hoist it onto my back and run out of my room and down the stairs towards the garage, hoping I don't bump into Alfred so he can't scold me for rushing around the manor. When I finally get to the door of the garage, I slow down and calmly open the door to see everyone waiting at the car. Even Bruce and Alfred are there ready to wave us off.

"Sorry I'm late guys, didn't want to leave anything important behind."

"No worries, Timmy," Dick waves off with a smile, "Jason only got here a minute ago."

Well, that's two people who won't be angry at me. But I can tell Damian is clearly unimpressed as he looks at me with his arms folded as he leans against the car.

"Here, I'll help you with that bag, Master Timothy," Alfred says as he walks up to me and helps me take off my backpack. Thankfully it fits inside the trunk just fine even with everyone else's stuff already in there. As I close it, Jason yells-

"Shotgun," as he makes his way over to the front passenger seat. But Damian walks in front of the door and refuses to budge.

"Hey, that's my seat. I called shotgun," Jason says.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Damian asks.

"I will move you out of the way if I have to."

"-tt- I'd like to see you try."

"Okay," Dick tries to separate them, "Jason, I know you called shotgun, and if it was just you and me-"

"Then I wouldn't have to, there'd only be two people, that would be stupid," he replies.

"Well, right. But the point is, if you sit in the front, then that leaves Damian in the back with Tim... I don't think anyone wants that."

"Is he even tall enough to ride in the front?" Jason asks, clearly trying to work his way around the argument.

"I ride in the Batmobile and on my own motorcycle," Damian points out.

"Yeah but that's as Robin," Jason reminds him, "if we're going as normal civilians, I'm not sure it's legal for you to sit in the front."

As Damian starts to growl, Bruce decides to step in, "Damian is in fact just above the legal height restriction for passengers under twelve."

"Classic Bruce, playing favourites again," Jason replies.

"Okay," Dick tries to defuse the situation, "if there are no legal issues here, then I'm sorry Jason but either Damian or Tim should sit in the front, you'll be thanking me when we get on the road, trust me."

"I don't mind sitting in the back," I say as I walk to the rear door. We should just get going, if we're already having problems I can only imagine what the next few days will be like.

"That's settled then," Dick says as he turns back to his side of the car.

Jason and Damian give each other glares as they make their way into their respective seats.

"Have a nice trip," waves Alfred.

"I expect you not to have killed each other when you return," Bruce adds.

As we finally get going, the tension seems to disappear as Dick puts on some music. A fun fact about Dick is that he's always been a surprisingly good DJ. Well, I don't know if he'd be great for a club or something like that. But he's always been good with people and that extends to him playing music for them, he remembers what everyone likes and cycles around their tastes with ease. Plus when he starts to sing along, it's kind of contagious.

As we make it out of the city, Dick decides to turn the music off and ask-

"So, what activities would you guys most like to do first when we get there? After we set up the tent and all the essentials of course."

"Well I think hiking in the hills sounds nice, there's meant to be some great views from up there," I say.

"Oh yeah there definitely are, that sounds good. What about you, Jason?"

He doesn't respond, so Dick looks at him in the rear view mirror.

"Come on Jason," he says, "I'm sure there's something you want to do."

"I guess trying the roasted marshmallows you're so fond of," he replies.

"Ha, I knew you wanted to try them," Dick says before turning his head briefly to Damian, "So what do you want to do?"

"How much longer till we get there?" Damian asks in return.

"Quite a while," Dick replies, "so you may as well tell me, I'll get it out of you eventually."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"Me? Well I think going on a zip line would be fun. I know it sounds similar to the whole grappling hook thing we do every night, but I think doing it in a forest would be quite a different experience."

"Then I suppose I will join you for that."

"We can all choose something, Dami. You don't just have to go along with what I want to do. So what do you think would be fun?" Dick asks, turning to look at him again briefly.

"Perhaps... fishing could be interesting," Damian replies.

"What do you think will be interesting about fishing?" Dick gives him a quick smile.

"You didn't ask anyone else about their choices," Damian retorts as he looks away from Dick.

"I'm not interrogating you, Dami, I like the sound of fishing. But I already know why Tim and Jason want to do their choices, I just want to know what you like about yours."

"Well, I've seen that it's something a lot of families do and Father is yet to take me, so..."

"We can definitely do it then, there's a great lake for all sorts of water related fun. Speaking of which..." Dick says as raindrops start to hit the windows of the car.

"Hopefully it's not like this at the camp site," I say.

"We're miles away, I'm sure it will be fine."

As the conversation dies down, I look out the window at the various views we pass. First there's a wooded area with some huge trees that block out the light so well that it's hard to see past a few of them. Then there's some open fields, with various farm animals. Then we get to the really interesting view as make our way through some mountains, thankfully the rain starts to clear up at that point. There doesn't look like there's any snow on the tips, so it can't be that high, but some clouds seem to pass very close to their level. It takes as quite a while to get around them and I'm so glad it does because as we get further in, the sun starts to set. Dick has always been good at finding spots with great views, but I swear sometimes they come to him. The mixture of colors along the skyline of red and green is incredible. I look around at everyone's reactions and even Jason looks a little amazed.

"Wow," Dick says, "if the views we go hiking for are even half as good as this, they'll be incredible."

From that point I think Dick deliberately takes his time through the mountains, but no one complains. After the sun has set and we've made it back to mostly flat land, there isn't much in terms of view. So I look over at the others and notice that Damian's asleep, his head leaning against the window as he breathes steadily. Jason is on his phone, which surely has no signal. I guess sleeping a bit might be a good idea, yeah... hopefully when I wake up, we'll be there.

* * *

 **Jason's POV**

"This looks like the place," Dick says as he slows the car to a halt.

I look out my window, it's completely black. There are no lights here except the ones on either side of the car.

"How can you tell?" I ask.

"The GPS says so," he replies as holds it up to show me, "so I guess we should get out and set up camp for the night. We can do all the fun stuff tomorrow."

"You expect me to set up a tent in this light?"

"Well no, obviously," Dick says as he opens his door and makes his way to the trunk of the car, "there are flashlights in here, even ones you can put on your head."

I slowly make my way out of the car to join him, stretching my whole body after such a long journey.

"Guh!" I say as I'm suddenly blinded by a bright light.

"Sorry," Dick turns his flashlight off, "didn't realise how powerful these things are. Here, put yours on."

He's giving me a smile as he hands it to me.

"You're enjoying this already, aren't you?"

"Just a little."

"So we going to wake up the little genius and the brat?" I ask.

"Nah, let them rest, we can just carry them to the tents to sleep uninterrupted," he says as he starts to remove all the tent materials from the trunk.

"So you want us to do all of this, alone? Just us two?"

"It'll be fine," he tries to assure me, "Look, you take these poles- wait... or is it these poles?"

I roll my eyes and turn away, expecting to see complete darkness. But there's a light, and it's coming towards us...

"Dick, do you see that?"

"What- Oh, guess someone else had the same idea as us."

"They're coming this way," I point out.

"They're probably just being neighbourly campers," he replies as he joins my side.

My curiosity grows as we wait for the stranger to approach. Will it be just an ordinary family welcoming us to the camping spot? That wouldn't be so bad, then again maybe it's an axe murderer. I'm sure we could take him if it was though. Probably more likely it will turn out we're in the wrong location and it's just some old man who wants us off his private property. But as I continue to go through a list of possibilities in my head, I realise nothing could have prepared me for what I see when Dick turns his flashlight back on.

"Hey Dick!" yells Barbara Gordon as she waves at us, "you decided to camp here this weekend too, huh?"

And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the Batgirls show up...


	2. Chapter 2

**Step Three: Batgirls?**

 **Dick's POV**

Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, and Cassandra Cain, are all standing in front of me right now, on their own camping trip on the same weekend as us, at the exact same location. How is that even possib- Oh... I remember now. I couldn't hold in my excitement before asking the others to join me, so I told Barbara all about this place, I must have really convinced her it was fun. Why couldn't I have been that convincing for Jason and Damian?

"This can't be a coincidence," Jason says as he turns to me, as if I secretly set this whole thing up.

"It's not," Barbara cuts in before I can reply, "Dick told me how great this place was, so I looked into it myself. Then I got kind of jealous, so I invited these two along for a camping trip of our own."

"And you just decided to come on the same day as us?" he asks.

"Well, no actually. That bit is a coincidence, Dick never gave me any dates."

"That's right," I realize, "I didn't plan those until you guys agreed to come."

Well as far as surprises go, this is a pleasant one at least.

"Well great, as if this trip wasn't going to be hard enough just dealing with my stupid brothers," Jason says.

"Hey!" Steph jumps in, "we're standing right here. And we didn't know that this was going to happen either, it's not like we're planning on spending any time with you guys now anyway."

"Well, to be honest," I put my hand up, revealing the tent poles I've been holding, "we could use some help setting up our tents."

"Where are Tim and Damian?" Barbara asks, "can't they help?"

"They're sleeping in the car, it was a long ride here, I don't really want to bother them."

Barbara turns to the others, "Well, what do you guys think? Should we help our new camping neighbours?"

"I guess I don't mind helping, as long as grumpy pants over there is okay with it?" Steph asks as she points to Jason.

"Sure, whatever," he replies.

"Okay, Steph you go with Jason then, I'll help Dick, and Cass- Cass?" Barbara suddenly notices Cass is no longer by her side, I look around and spot her already removing tent materials from the car, "I guess she'll do one on her own then," I say.

* * *

 **Step Four: Tents**

 **Tim's POV**

CLANG!

"Stop improvising, Dick! The instructions are there for a reason."

What? Don't I know that voice? I start rub my eyes as they struggle to stay open. I did not mean to fall into that deep of a sleep, figured I'd just wake up in a couple hours. I look around as my eyes finally start to do as they're told and notice Dick and Jason are gone, but Damian is still asleep in his seat.

"Sometimes following the instructions just takes too long," I can hear Dick say.

I look out the window to see him and is that- Barbara Gordon? When did she get here? Is this even the camping site? Or did we break down or something?

"And when you end up breaking the tent, it will take a whole lot longer to fix it than it would have to put it together in the first place," she says.

Tent? I guess this is the place then.

"At least Dick's trying to help, meanwhile Jason over here-"

Is that Steph too? That could make this trip a little better at least.

"Whenever I try to help, you just tell me I'm doing it wrong. So what's the point in trying?" Jason retorts.

"Done!" says Cass as she stands next to a fully constructed tent.

Huh, I guess the whole Batgirl gang is here. Weird.

"Well that's impressive," Dick replies.

"At least someone here knows how to put up a tent," Barbara adds.

"I'll start on the fourth one," Cass says as she starts to walk towards the car.

"Okay, Jason, why don't you finish this tent, while I help out Cass?" Steph says as she stands up.

"Go ahead, I'll get it done it way faster on my own anyway."

"Ha! Good luck."

Look at that, Steph standing up to Jason, is there a more beautiful image in the worl- I let out a yawn.

"Hi, Tim," I hear someone whisper, immediately making me jump.

I look behind me and realize it's just Cass collecting the tent from the trunk. I must be tired to have lost track of her coming this way.

"Hey, Cass. What are you guys doing here?" I ask.

"Camping," she replies.

"Right, makes sense."

"Tim," she says as she reaches over and adjusts my hair, before pointing to the side of her mouth, "drool."

"Wha- Oh!" I say as I wipe my mouth, "gone?" I ask.

She gives me a thumbs up before looking to her left.

"Oh, hey Tim," Steph says as she joins us.

"Hi, Steph. So you guys are camping here too, huh?"

"Yup, I mean we weren't meant to be here on the same days as you guys, but here we are," she gives me a smile, "Cass just finished building a tent if you want to sleep in one."

"Naaah-" I say with a yawn, "I can help you guys, seems unfair of me to not help build my own tent."

"Dude, don't worry about it. Cass is a natural at this, she practically set up our whole camp too."

Cass gives me another thumbs up.

"Come on, I can help. Let me look at these," I say as I grab the instructions and lift them to my face. Now if only I could focus my eyes to read them...

"Upside down," I hear Cass say.

"What -" I'm about to ask before I finally make out what's in front of me, "Hm... maybe you guys have a point."

Steph opens the car door, I get out and stretch before I start to make my way to the tent-

"Uh Tim, don't you need your stuff?" Steph reminds me.

"Oh, right," I walk back to the trunk and attempt to grab my bag.

"Woah, wait, that's your bag? Like yours alone?" she asks.

"Yeah..."

"It's huge, how heavy is that thing?"

I shrug, "pretty heavy."

She lifts it out of the trunk, visibly straining to do so.

"So did you pack for the apocalypse or something?"

"Haha, if we do end up in some sort of apocalypse, I hope it would come in handy."

"Well we wouldn't want it to get damaged then, I'll help you get it into your tent," she says as we start to carry it together.

"We're so going to have to make this up to you guys tomorrow," I say.

Dick puts his hand up as we pass him, "Don't worry, I know just how to do it."

* * *

 **Step Five: Fishing**

 **Damian's POV**

I suppose this is my tent, I must have fallen asleep in the car, predictable of Grayson to not wake me up to build it. I'll have to find out who did construct this so I know who to blame when it inevitably collapses. I crawl out of my tent to see Grayson, already awake and holding what looks to be a fishing rod.

"Morning, Dami. You ready to go fishing?" he asks me with that cheery smile of his.

"First thing in the morning, Grayson, really?" I reply.

"Well yeah, what else are we going to eat for breakfast?"

"Perhaps the food that Pennyworth prepared exactly for this scenario."

"That's no fun, Dami. You want the full camping experience."

"I said no such thing."

"Okay," he says, putting down the fishing rod, "I'll get you some of the food from Alfred, but you have to promise to be understanding of something I have to tell you."

"You do realize I can retrieve the food myself? And don't treat me like a child."

"Fine, don't do it for the food then, can you do it for me?" he asks, seeming genuinely concerned.

"What are you babbling about?"

He turns to get the food, "I just don't want this vacation to be ruined for you," he says.

"You're a moron if you had hopes of me actually enjoying this in the first place," I remind him.

He returns with an energy bar and hands it to me, before retrieving the fishing rod and placing his arm over my shoulder, guiding me away from the camp.

"I suppose this will do," I say before taking a bite.

"Sorry, Dami. Had to be something small, we've got to walk and talk."

"And where are exactly are we walking to?"

"Just to the lake, but I need to prepare you for what you're going to see. Because last night when we arrived we met some other people who are camping here-"

"Is that it? That's what you're worried about? I mean it's a slight annoyance if they're fishing at the same time as us, but as long as they don't interfere with-"

"That's not it, Dami. Those campers are... Barbara, Stephanie and Cassandra."

Of course they are, the one set of people Grayson wouldn't turn down joining us, wait- who am I even kidding? Grayson wouldn't turn anyone down if they asked to join us anyway. So thanks to him, now I don't only have to waste my time with Todd and Drake- speaking of which.

"Where are Todd and Drake?" I ask.

"They're waiting for us at the lake, with the girls."

I shouldn't be surprised by this. Fishing was my choice of activity, which I didn't even want to have to pick, and it's ruined before it's even started. I shouldn't have agreed to come in the first place...

"It's surprising how easily you find new ways to disappoint me, Grayson," I say, breaking the brief silence we'd been walking through.

"I really am sorry that I couldn't tell you about them sooner, Dami, but I only found out they were here last night myself, honest. Even then I wouldn't have normally suggested they go fishing with us, but we kinda owe them, they practically set up our camp last night so that I wouldn't have to wake you and Tim up-"

I stop walking.

"So you mean to tell me, that if you had just woke me up, then you wouldn't have felt the need to invite them to join us for fishing?"

"I guess-"

"Then it's all your fault, Grayson. As usual," I say as I turn around and start walking back to the camp.

"Hey, come on now. Don't be like that, it will still be fun, I promise they won't get in our way," he grabs my arm.

I stop and turn back to him, staring into his eyes, I hate myself when I realize I think he looks genuinely apologetic... why do you do this to me, Grayson?

"I refuse to share a boat with them," I say, as I slowly start to step back towards the lake.

"You won't have to, we've hired three boats. You, me and Jason can have our own one, how about that?"

"And can we sail so far away that we can't see anyone else?" I ask.

"Well, no, there's only so much space."

I sigh, "it will have to do."

It's only a brief walk from there until we get to the lake, the others wave to us as we arrive but I ignore them, focusing my eyes on my choice of boat.

"Okay, Jason, Damian and I are going to use this one I guess," Dick says to the others as he follows me onto the boat, "you guys can share the other two however you like."

"And why am I stuck on the same boat as you guys?" Jason asks as he joins us.

"Do you want to catch more fish than the others?" I ask him.

"Not particularly."

"Then you're right to be reluctant, you're on the wrong boat."

"Calm down, Dami. No one's on the wrong boat, and remember this is your first time fishing, maybe try not to set your expectations too high?"

"I'm a very fast learner, Grayson, you know that."

"Okay, just try not to be disappointed if you don't catch as many as you want," he replies as he activates the engine and gets us moving, "we can just try and have a good time, no need for this to be a competition."

I watch the others getting into their boats as we leave, Drake shares one with Brown predictably, leaving Gordon and Cain with the last one. Whether Grayson believes this is a competition or not doesn't matter, I have a point to prove. And looking at those teams, there's no way we don't catch twice as many fish as them. As long as Grayson can even partially pull his weight that is.

As we stop, I realize sadly that Grayson was right, there isn't enough space for us to be that far away from the others. But this way I can keep an eye on the competition at least.

"So Dami, you ready to learn how to use a fishing rod?" Grayson asks.

"Of course, just make it quick."

"No worries it's super simple," he scoots up to my side and hands me the fishing rod, "so I already added the lure, so all you have to do is put your fingers here like this," he says as he places his hands over mine and guides me, "then make sure no one is behind you-"

"Move imbecile," I tell Jason.

"You mean you don't want to poke my eye out with that thing? You must really love me," he replies, placing his hands against his face.

"On second thought, stay where you are!" I growl as I turn back ahead of me.

Grayson sighs, "Okay, now that we know it's safe, in one motion let's go back and swing it forward, that's it. And there you are," he gives me a little clap and a smile, "you just cast your first fishing rod, congratulations."

"-tt- That was incredibly simple, we should have enough fish for a week after today."

"Well, that's only the first part," Grayson explains, "the hardest part about fishing is the waiting. We have to hope one of the fish get attracted by the bait, then when they do, I'll help you reel it in."

"I'm sure it won't be that long," I say.

"Well let's hope," he gives me that smile again, "now I'll cast mine. Do you want to join in Jason?"

"I'll pass on that, besides, that would make the teams unfair," he replies.

"They aren't any teams, Jason. We're just having fun here."

"You can keep saying that as many times as you want, Dick, but the way Damian's looking at the other boats right now... I'm pretty sure this is a competition."

I hate it when I agree with Todd, but he's right. This is a competition, and we're going to win. I watch the others carefully as they cast their own fishing rods. Drake and Brown barely seem to be paying attention, focusing much more on their conversation, they clearly aren't a threat. Gordon and Cain on the other hand seem focused, I'll have to watch them carefu-

"Oh, looks like Tim's got one!" Grayson says.

What? That can't be possible, he- No, it's fine. He's reeling something in, but it can't be a -

"Look at the size of that!" Grayson exclaims as Drake pulls an annoyingly large fish onto his boat.

"Have to admit, that's actually quite impressive," Jason adds.

I start to grind my teeth as I watch Drake and Brown place the fish in their cooling box. This can't be right, he just got lucky, that's all.

"Don't worry, Dami. I'm sure we'll get a bite soon enough," Grayson says.

I turn to scowl at him, then decide to focus on my own fishing, looking into the water hoping maybe I can summon a fish out of sheer force of will. My concentration is interrupted as Gordon yells-

"I think I got one!"

It carries on like that for a while, the other two boats catching fish on a fairly regular basis, while we sit here waiting for absolutely nothing. I try to be patient, I remember why Grayson wanted this trip, to create some memories, I don't want to ruin this for him. But when Drake catches his fourth and largest fish, I just can't take it anymore.

"WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG?" I yell, shaking the boat as I fling my arms into the air.

"Whoa. I'm sorry we're not having a very lucky day, Dami-"

"This can't be luck, Grayson! There has to be something to it! There's a trick! What haven't you taught me?"

"They're doing the exact same thing as us-"

"Well clearly not, because for them it's actually working! So what step have you incompetently left out?"

"Calm down, look, I'll try moving the boat to another spot, how about that? Maybe this part of the lake just isn't a good location."

"Oh, of course! You chose the wrong location, the one place in the entire lake where there are no fish to catch!"

As Grayson turns on the engine and starts to move the boat, I notice Drake looking at me. What's he staring at? Just because he caught some fish doesn't mean he can judge me, it's all Grayson's fault anyway... I'll show him.

I run to the engine and push Grayson out of the way, taking control of the boat.

"Careful!" he yells as I turn us towards Drake. I try to keep an eye on him as I fight off Grayson and Todd with some wild kicks to keep control, he won't get away.

As we speed ahead, Grayson and Todd decide to just grip the sides of the boat as Drake runs to his own engine. But I'm almost certain that our ship is going to hit his before he can reach it, which is absolutely perfect as I perform a swift swerve, just avoiding our ships touching, creating a wave that knocks Drake off balance and-

SPLASH!

Into the lake.

"Tim!" Brown yells as Drake splashes around on the surface of the water, "Grab my hand!"

"I'm gonna kill you, brat!" he screams as Brown helps him claw his way back onto the boat.

I burst into laughter.

"That was incredibly dangerous, Damian," Grayson scolds me, "You could have killed someone!"

I'm incapable of replying as I'm too busy laughing, tears in my eyes now.

"That's it, we're done fishing. And I'm sure Bruce and Alfred will have some very serious words with you when we get home. I'm so disappointed in you."

At this point, I'll deal with the consequences, because the look on his face- oh, that has made this whole trip worth it.

* * *

 **Tim's POV**

So cold, I can't stop shivering. Little brat, thinks he can do whatever he wants, I can't wait to see Bruce tear into him over this.

As we get back onto dry land, Steph throws a towel over my head and helps me dry off. I stop when I hear some giggling, at first I look around for Damian but then I realize, that laugh is way too cute to be his...

"What's so funny?" I ask Steph.

"Sorry," she says, still giggling, "the kid's got guts to do something that dangerous, but it was kinda funny watching you flail around in the water."

I stare at her, not amused.

"Did anyone ever tell you, you have a cute frustrated face?" she says, pinching my cheek and giving me a smile before going back to helping me dry off. At least someone else sees the funny side, I guess.

When we get back to camp, I'm thankful that I packed a portable heater as I try to warm myself up in my tent after putting on some dry clothes.

"Tim?" Dick calls from the other side of the tent.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Sorry for not being able to stop Damian, I tried, but you know what he can be like sometimes. To make it up to you, we've decided to go hiking next like you wanted. I'll keep Damian in my sights and away from you to make sure nothing else happens."

"You're taking him with us?"

"Would you rather leave him behind to do whatever he wants?"

"Good point, I'll join you guys at the start of the trail, I just need to warm up a bit more first."

"No worries, see you there, Timmy."

A little while later, I finally feel like I'm back to a normal temperature, and I've had some time to think things over and calm down, a little bit anyway. If the kid tries anything else funny, then I won't be so nice, but I don't want the situation to escalate. So I start making my way towards the hiking trail. As I see the others waiting for me in the distance, I realize this is just like with the car yesterday, I'm always the last person to arrive even when I've prepared. At least people are even less likely to complai- I'm distracted from my thought as I notice Damian bolt off to the right, Dick swiftly following him. Which is predictable, I let out a sigh, of course he causes more trouble before I even show up. Well, at least I probably won't have to deal with- Is that Jason leaving as well now? Oh, that's fine, just leave me with all the girls, that totally won't be uncomfortab- Or not, if Barbara and Cass just walk off together as well... Which just leaves Steph waiting for me- you know what? That's not so bad, that's pretty good actually. I have no idea if the others will make it back to the camp in one piece, but at least me and Steph get to spend some time together, with no Damian or anyone else to interfere. Maybe this all worked out before it even started, that would make a nice change. She gives me a wave and I wave back, yeah, maybe everything will be fine...

 **Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed this story so far, very much appreciated! :D. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you have any suggestions for what you want to happen next, let me know! ;D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Step Six: Hiking**

 **Jason's POV**

When I agreed to go camping, I figured getting through it would be worth it to see the reactions to Dick in his old costume. I can picture it now, a thug dropping his gun from sheer laughter, a mother shielding her child's eyes... it could be so beautiful. But the more this trip goes on, the more I start to think I might have been wrong about that. Not because I have to spend time with my brothers, mostly, but the boredom, ugh, we've hardly done anything fun since we got here. I mean sure, Damian taking over the fishing boat to soak Tim was exciting, but I had to sit through a whole lot of nothing to get that. If only you could get phone signal out here, then I could at least distract myself from-

"I don't appreciate being stared at, Grayson," Damian says, I turn around and see him attempting to step away from Dick, who's been refusing to leave his side since the whole boat situation.

"I'm not-"

"Don't lie to me. Are you scared I'm going to ruin the trip? Is that it? Better watch me in case I do something?" he asks.

"Of course not-"

"I said don't lie to me, Grayson!"

"Listen, Dami, come here-"

"No! You don't want me to ruin your stupid trip, fine! I'll just go somewhere else!" he yells as he darts away into the forest.

"Damian!" Dick shouts as he follows him.

Huh. Well, I guess that's just the opening I need to slip away from the rest of these guys and maybe have some fun on my own. The kid's a brat, but he can definitely be useful sometimes. I start to make my way up the hill, making sure to take a turning before anyone can spot me, don't want them trying to catch up. At first I'm walking at a brisk pace to make sure I stay ahead, but it's not long before I can't hear anyone else. Just me and the sound of the forest around me. The trees are covering most of the sky at this point, but I know it gets clearer at the top of the hill, it would be nice to be able to forget everything for a bit and just look out at that view. I don't know what it is about sitting high up looking over a landscape, but that's the one form of doing nothing that I really don't find boring, and Dick's the only person who knows that. He always meets me at locations like that when he needs a favor from me, it's obvious but it works, I hate that he always knows stuff like that.

The trees around me finally start to clear as I get further up the hill, and as I take a turn, I notice ahead of me the perfect spot I was looking for. A section clear of trees and what looks like a fantastic view. As I get there I realize just how right my assessment was, the view has the surrounding area of trees in the foreground, the occasional cloud in the sky, and right in the distance I can see what looks like mountains, maybe they're even the ones we passed in the car. At my feet is a cliff face, pretty tall, but I've never been afraid of heights. I sit down, my legs dangling over the edge as I look out and take everything in with a nice deep breath. I get my phone out to take a picture when I notice- signal! My phone has signal! Oh this really is the perfe- wait, it's gone. Come on, I know you're here bars, give me bars. I hover my phone above my head, side to side, down near my feeeeeee-

"Woooooooooooooaaaah!" I yell as the edge of the cliff face I've been sitting on shifts and crumbles, causing me to slip and fall down the side.

Oh god, oh god, I don't want to die on this stupid trip, not like this. This so wasn't worth it. I have to stop my fall, I have to stop my fall, I have to stop my-

* * *

 **Tim's POV**

"So I guess it's just us?" I ask Steph shyly as I approach her at the start of the trail.

"I guess it is," she replies.

"Do I want to know why everyone else ran off?"

"Probably not," she gives me a smile.

"So... which way are we going then?"

I blush as she grabs my hand.

"This way," she says, pointing up the hill as we start to walk forward.

For a brief while we just enjoy looking around as we make our way through the wooded scenery, taking in all the noises of the wildlife around us, the gentle breeze. So different from the environment we're used to.

"I bet you're hating being in the middle of nowhere, aren't you?" Steph asks me.

"No, I was just really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I am, I just figured when you're at home you're always making yourself so busy, it's hard to get you to take a moment to stop and look around sometimes, you know?"

"Well I'm looking around now, at the beautiful scenery, and best of all, the beautiful person right next to me."

Steph bursts into laughter.

"What, too cheesy?" I ask, holding my hands out.

"So cheesy," she replies, as we get closer to each other, wrapping an arm around each other's waists.

"I guess you're right though, I do tend to focus a bit too heavily on work," I say.

"Understatement of the century," she replies.

"I'm not sure I'd go that far."

"Okay, how about of the year?" she offers.

"Maybe of the month?" I counter.

"Okay, how about this, let's meet in the middle, the biggest understatement of the last six months."

"Deal," I chuckle, "but I don't hate the idea of taking a few days out, besides, we're doing stuff. We were fishing quite successfully this morning until-"

"Let's not think about that right now," she interrupts.

"Probably a good idea, let's focus on this moment instead. I'm having a good time, with the person I should really spend more time with than I do."

"You got that right," she says as she leans her head on my shoulder.

"We could always do more work together."

"I'd prefer something a little more normal, like a proper date, maybe?"

"Are you saying this doesn't count as a proper date?" I ask.

"Oh this totally counts, but that doesn't mean we can't go on more."

"Then that's the first thing we'll arrange when we get back home. Speaking of which, how's it been for you being out here in the middle of nowhere? You know, before we showed up."

"It's been nice. Babs and Cass are great company, we like to go out and just take a break from everything occasionally, and it's always fun. But I'm glad you guys came, it wouldn't feel right if there was no drama around me for more than a few days," she giggles.

I join her in laughing, "oh we've certainly brought that."

"But my favourite part about these trips is they always put everything in perspective, and I'm glad you'll get to see that for yourself this time."

"Put what in perspective?"

"Well with what we do every day, stopping crime, saving lives, it's easy to forget what the most important thing is. The thing that keeps us together, makes us able to do what we do."

"And what's that?" I ask.

"Family and friends."

* * *

 **Dick's POV**

"DAMIAN!" I yell as I feel the strain from running starting to creep into my lungs. Damian's fast, I know that, but surely he has to stop sometime. I continue pushing through the pain as I remind myself there's no way I can stop now, we're so far away from the camp at this point that there's a real chance Damian could get lost, and I can't let that happen.

"PLEASE!" I try again, a last ditch effort to make him think for a second and just stop, please-

He did... he did!

I continue running, making sure not to let this opportunity get away. Damian's bent over panting as I stop to approach him slowly, cautious not to overstep my boundaries this time.

"So, have you got that out of your system now?" I ask, struggling to catch my breath.

He scowls back at me in response.

"Can we talk about what happened back there?" I wipe some of the sweat off my forehead.

"You mean you being scared I'm going to ruin this stupid trip?" he asks, still panting.

"I never said-"

"You meant it."

"No, I didn't. Trust me. You could never ruin the trip, Dami," I try to give him a reassuring smile.

"-tt- We both know that's a lie."

"I wouldn't have invited you if I was worried about you ruining it, you know that."

"Then why were you watching me like that, Grayson? It's because you don't trust me," he says, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"I do trust you, Damian," I stress.

"Just saying the words doesn't make it true, you taught me that."

That hits me, hard. Like a knife to the chest, because deep down I know he has a point, how can I say that I trust him after what he did?

"Listen, I did trust you, but with the fishing today, you broke that-"

"I broke the trust! What about you? You promised me I would have a good time, that this was our first fun vacation together. None of that included the girls being here!"

And the knife twists, he's right, again. The obvious problem right in front me and I couldn't see it, the start of all of this.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Once again, the words don't mean it's true. If you were truly sorry, you would not have invited them to my activity, without asking my permission!"

"You're right, that's my fault. I didn't realize how attached you were to the fishing idea, and even if you weren't, I should have asked you first. I'm sorry."

There's a pause for a moment as we stare into each other's eyes. I can see the anger leave him, slowly, as he realizes that I'm telling the truth. I start to close the gap between us.

"I understand now," I say, "that's what started this, and that's my fault, but that doesn't give you permission to endanger everyone by taking control of the boat like you did. We're lucky no one got hurt."

"Lucky? You know I'm more capable than that, Grayson. I knew what I was doing."

"Once again, that doesn't excuse it. We both made mistakes, and I'm sorry for mine, are you sorry for yours, Damian?"

There's a pause as he turns his head away from me.

"I'm sorry for dragging you out here," he replies.

"And?"

"I'm sorry for stealing control of the boat."

"And?"

"I'm sorry for pushing Drake into the lake... but I did find it humorous."

"That will have to do."

He turns to look me in the eyes again as he straightens up, I notice his lip start to quiver.

"I'm sorry for ruining your trip," he says as tears start to slip down his face.

"You didn't ruin the trip, Dami."

"Of course I did, Grayson! I knew I would, you just wanted to make happy memories and-"

I embrace Damian in a hug, gently placing my hand behind his head as he cries as silently as possible against my chest.

"You just wanted to have fun," he says.

"I have had some fun, but family vacations are never only fun, Dami. That's always the hope but it's never reality. The truth is, families fight, we do it all the time. But we make up afterwards and our bond is stronger for it. That's what makes good memories."

"I'm sorry-"

"You've said sorry enough to me, I forgive you, Damian, completely. Do you forgive me?"

"Yes."

"Good, then everything's okay. We'll both have to say sorry to Tim though," I say as I lift his chin up to look at me, "is that okay?"

He nods reluctantly.

I gently wipe the tears from his face, giving him a smile as I do.

"Come on," I say, "we should get going, before the others get worried. Do you remember the way back?"

"-tt- Of course," he says, still sounding a little emotional as he looks away.

"Really? Which direction first then?"

He hesitates.

I grab his hand, "how about we find out together?"

He stands still as I try to move forward, I turn back to look at him.

"Are you still going to tell Father and Pennyworth about what I did?" he asks.

I place my hands on his shoulders.

"I am, but I'm also going to tell them about what I did, and about this conversation, and I'll be at your side the entire time. Even if I didn't, they'd understand, after all, that's what families do," I give him another smile, "they help and understand when no one else will."

* * *

 **Jason's POV**

"AGH!" I yell as I desperately grab a branch sticking out from the cliff face. Please don't break, please don't break... phew! I really stretched my arm killing my momentum like that, but it's okay if I can just make a slower descent this- hmm...

I look down to see there is definitely still too much of a fall for me to let go and not injure myself. I look back up to see if there's anywhere I could gain some grip to climb my way back up, but I'm not a rock climber, I can make my way through urban environments, but this is a whole new ball game. The best way out of this requires a lot of luck, and it's annoyingly humiliating, but I don't think I have much choice, my grip is only going to hold for so long.

"HEEEEEEEEEELP!" I scream into the distance, "PLEASE I REEEEAAAAALLLY NEEED HEEEELP!"

I stop to listen for any response, but I get nothing but my own echo.

"PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELP MEEEEEEE!" I try again.

Still nothing... all this because I wanted to use my phone...

"JASON?" I hear from below.

I look down so fast I probably risk giving myself whiplash, it's Barbara and Cass, I'm saved! This is going to be so humiliating, but who cares right now, I'll deal with that later.

"GUYS! YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME! THE EDGE CRUMBLED AND I FELL AND-"

"HANG ON, JASON! WE'VE GOT SOMETHING TO CATCH YOU WITH IN OUR BACKPACK!"

A backpack! That would be useful right now, I guess I usually take Tim for granted on that front.

"OKAY, WE'RE GOING TO HOLD EITHER SIDE OF THIS, YOU DROP AS CAREFULLY AS YOU CAN, JASON!" Barbara yells.

Wait-

"IS THAT A PARACHUTE? YOU PACKED A PARACHUTE? WHY?"

"WHO CARES JUST DROP!" she replies.

Well, here goes nothing. At least if I break a few bones there'll be someone to take me back to camp now, just have to survive, that's the important thing. Just have to let go, and not hit my he-

SNAP!

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I scream as I slide down the cliff face, stupid branch breaking like that, screw you branch. Stop it, focus, don't scrape your hands too much, aim for the parachute, aim. Find those cracks to break your moment-

"OOF!" I say as I hit the parachute, bumping my legs into the ground below.

"Are you okay, Jason?" Babs asks as she lowers the parachute and runs to check up on me.

"I'm fine, just some bruises and scratches I think," I say as I stay lying on the ground, "Oh, and I don't really want to risk putting weight on my leg right now. I don't think it's broken, but if I could just stay here for a minute, that would be great..."

"How the hell did you manage to get stuck up there?" she asks.

"Why the hell did you bring a parachute?" I reply.

"I didn't, Cass did in her backpack."

"You're welcome," Cass says, giving me a wave.

"So you've got your own Tim then," I say.

"Thankfully for you, we have. Now come on, we'll help you up so you can be careful with that leg."

* * *

 **Tim's POV**

"That view really was amazing," Steph says as we arrive back where we began at the start of the trail.

"I guess I just pick the best activities," I reply with a grin, "I hope the others had as good a time as-"

"TIM! SCREW YOUR HIKING! I AM NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!" I hear Jason scream at me.

I turn to see Babs and Cass helping him limp towards us, "What happened?" I ask.

"I FELL DOWN A CLIFF IS WHAT HAPPENED!" he yells back.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"AM I OKAY?" he shouts again.

"He's fine, mostly," Cass clarifies.

"Then what's with all the shouting?" I ask.

"Because Tim! I fell off a cliff! You try it, see how it feels!"

"It's not my fault you fell, you should have been more careful, what were you doing?"

"I wasn't do anything! I was just looking at the view, then I pull out my phone and... wait-" he shoves his hands into his pockets, "I MUST HAVE DROPPED MY PHONE!"

"Well we can go back and get it if-"

"There's no way it survived that fall! It has a few cracks just from me dropping it at normal heights..."

"Anyway," I say trying to move on, "if you guys are here after all that, where are Dick and Damian?"

* * *

 **Dick's POV**

So... we're totally lost. I don't want to say that to Damian, but he's probably noticed by now that I have absolutely no idea where I'm going. At first I thought I knew, but now I don't think we're any closer to getting back to the camp. It's just so hard to tell when there are just trees everywhere and I was so focused on Damian when I was running through here. I stop and take a deep breath, looking around.

"You have no idea which direction the camp is in do you, Grayson?" Damian asks, looking up at me.

"Let's just start again from this point, where we are right now. Where do you think it is from here?"

"I thought you said you knew the way back?"

"It's impossible to tell-"

GRRRRRRRRRR!

"What was-"

"Don't turn around, Damian," I warn him.

"But what-"

"Don't. Turn. Around."

He gives me a nod, as I slowly turn my head. Spotting exactly what I feared was making that sound a small distance behind us... a bear, and it doesn't look very happy, we must have wandered into its territory...

What the hell do we do?

 **Thanks for reading, and thank you once again to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed so far! I love you guys ;D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Step Seven: BEAR!**

 **Dick's POV**

I'm sure I've had some sort of training for this situation, dealing with bears when camping 101 or something. But for the life of me, I can't remember anything, at all. I start to sweat as I can feel my heart beating way too fast for my liking. I just- I don't know what to do...

Damian's grip tightening around my hand brings me out of my thoughts for a second, reminding me why I have to focus. I could never forgive myself if that bear so much as scratches him. But it's okay, think about this now, step by step.

"Damian," I whisper, "I want you to stay calm. But behind us, a little bit away, is a bear. So what we need to do is slowly turn around to face it, it needs to remain in our sight at all times, is that clear?"

Thankfully that actually sounded like decent advice, and Damian gives me a nod in return before we both carefully turn to face the bear. It's about 5 trees distance away, so we'll have time to react if it starts to run, but there's no way we'd be fast enough to escape. I can remember that much about bears, they're much faster than you'd expect.

"Can you identify what type of bear that is, Grayson?" Damian asks me.

I should know this, I can tell, but it's like the information is on the other side of a locked door that just won't budge. It's brown, but black bears can be brown too, I think.

"Can you?" I ask back, desperate at this point.

He shakes his head.

I place my hand in front of his chest and slowly start to back away, gently guiding him back with me.

"Okay, new plan-"

GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I'm cut off as the bear growls, this time charging forward for a second, before stopping and growling once again. Damian and I both look at each other, neither of us prepared for this situation at all.

"New plan," I say again, "I think it's looking for an excuse not to attack, so let's try the appearing big tactic to scare it off, get on my shoulders."

Damian looks reluctant as I bend down a little, trying not to appear that much smaller in case the bear starts to fancy its chances. He shuffles up to me before I grab either side of his torso and lift him onto my shoulders, making sure to stand up as I do so to keep my balance.

Time for a confident approach, just fake it and hope my heart rate will slow down on its own. If we're trying to look big, we need to appear tough too.

"Good, now let's try getting louder. AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!" I yell.

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWRRRRR" shouts Damian.

"Great! Now waves your arms! That's it!"

It seems to work as the bear takes a few steps back. But then-

GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

It's charging! It's charging! Quickly, to a tree, number one priority is to keep Damian safe.

I dash to the tree beside us and try to hoist Damian up onto it.

"Get up there! Now!" I command.

"I'm pretty certain this is bad advice for dealing with bears!" he says as he grabs a branch and starts to climb up as fast as he can. I follow him, not caring if it's good advice at this point, just hoping it buys us some time.

"Don't look down!" I shout up the tree, before ignoring my own advice and checking the location of the bear. It runs into the base of the tree as we've almost reached the tip.

Please don't climb, please don't climb, please don't-

GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

It's climbing up! Damian was right! Okay, need a new plan and fast, come on!

I reach the top of the tree with Damian. He looks down to see the bear making its way up, I can instantly see the panic in his face, I told him not to check for a reason! I wrap my arm around his waist.

"Do you trust me?" I ask, as I look to the tree ahead of us, then back to Damian.

"Not right now," he replies.

"READY? JUMP!" I scream as we leap to the other tree, I can't get any traction on the trunk, but I manage to grab a large branch and drag both of us up into a more stable position.

"Now, I bet the bear can't do that. But listen to me this time, don't look back, just in case," I say as I shuffle us to the other side of the tree, "you ready to do that again?"

He takes a deep breath and tightens his grip on me in response.

"LET'S GO!" I yell as we jump, this time I'm able to land on a branch and use the trunk to gain my balance. We make our way to the other side again.

"One more time," I say before taking yet another leap, I'm confident I can make it, having just done this same thing twice in a row. I feel like I jump even higher than the previous effort as it looks like we're going to overshoot the tree for a second, but we manage to hit the trunk near the tip. And with some control, slide down to a strong enough branch.

For the first time since I came up with this ridiculous plan, I look back to see the bear still watching us from the peak of the tree we originally climbed. As I turn my head though, it starts to climb back down. I wait as silently as possible, holding Damian tightly as I pray that the bear will leave. Over the next few minutes, I can feel my whole body gradually calm down as the bear doesn't show up again, presumably losing interest in a tricky meal.

I look at Damian, noticing he has his eyes shut tight as he grips with all his strength around me. I touch his nose, "we made it," I say with a grin as he opens his eyes.

He lets out a deep sigh, "We're still lost," he replies.

"Not anymore," I point to the hill I can now see from above the other trees, "that's the hiking trail, we just have to go that way and make it back to the camp from there."

"You really are ridiculously lucky, Grayson."

"I know."

"But thank you for saving us, I guess."

"Awww, it's okay, Dami. You'll save us next time," I say, ruffling his hair, making me notice the scratches on the palms of my hands as they start to sting, "now let's back to the ground, before I really start pushing my luck."

* * *

 **Step Eight: Campfire**

 **Tim's POV**

I should have seen this coming, Jason wanders off on his own, almost gets himself seriously hurt, already classic Jason, but then he uses that as an excuse to sit out of doing work while the rest of us collect firewood. That's not even considering that he blames me for all that, I get that it sucks to lose your phone, but I didn't tell him to go out-

"Here he is!" Jason calls as I return to the camp with a pile of tree branches in my arms. I notice Dick and Damian standing beside him, their clothes much dirtier than when they left and looking a little roughed up.

I drop what I'm holding and run up to them, "where have you guys been? Are you okay?" I ask, inspecting them further to find rips as well.

"We're fine thankfully, we had a fairly close call with a bear-"

"A BEAR?" I scream.

"Don't worry," he puts a hand on my shoulder, "it didn't touch us. We managed to get away, we just got a little scratched up by some trees," he holds his palms up revealing the damage, "I just cleaned these out anyway, so it's fine, they don't sting anymore. But, more importantly, we both have something to say to you, isn't that right, Damian?"

I look down at Damian, he turns away in response, "I'm sorry ," he says.

"Sorry for..." Dick prompts.

"Sorry for knocking you out of your boat."

"And I have something to apologize for too," Dick adds before I can reply.

"You didn't do any-"

"I did, I set Damian up to fail. I shouldn't have invited the girls without asking him first, that's my bad. So I'm also partially responsible for what happened, and I'm sorry for that."

"Well, thank you both," I say kind of surprised, before noticing Damian giving me a side glance now, "I accept your apologies, everything's fine. I had a chat with Steph and... well I got over it anyway."

"Speaking of which," Jason butts in.

"I think this should be enough wood, don't you guys?" Barbara asks as her, Steph and Cass drop what they've collected into the pile.

"Well then," Dick replies, "if that's all out the way, let's get this fire going!"

As Dick and Barbara start the campfire, I sit down, finally having a chance to rest my legs... speaking of which.

"Hey Jason, can you bring the cooling box with the fish over here?"

"Fine," he replies as he stands up-

"I KNEW IT! YOU WERE FAKING THE WHOLE TIME!" I yell, pointing to his leg.

He face palms in return.

* * *

 **Jason's POV**

I don't know if Dick will be right about how good the roasted marshmallows are, but the fish sure smells tasty. Thankfully Barbara took over cooking them, I've had food Dick's cooked before, I don't plan to again. Although, I realize maybe some burnt food would have been worth putting up with, instead of what I fear is coming when I see Dick returning to the campfire with a guitar.

"Please say you're not going to try and play that thing."

"Afraid so," he replies with a wink, "it's been a while, so I might be a little rusty."

"How did you even pack it without us noticing?" I ask.

"Maybe I should play you a song about how-"

"No, stop. I regret asking," I hold my hands up.

Dick plays a chord to get everyone's attention.

"You brought your guitar? I haven't seen that since our date with the-" Barbara says.

"Yup," Dick interrupts.

"When did you last even play that?" Tim asks.

"I learned some songs specifically for this trip if you must know," he replies.

"I have not known you to play an instrument for the entire time I have known you, Grayson. Are you going to make me regret not bringing earplugs?"

"It's fine, guys! Seriously, just listen."

When Dick starts to play, you can tell he's right about being a little rusty as he makes a few mistakes, stopping a few times. But as he gets going, it's actually not bad, until he starts singing that is. Dick's got a decent singing voice, but the song choices are so cheesy. Barbara seems to find it cute though as she joins in, putting one arm across Dick's shoulders. That seems to start a chain reaction as Steph joins in as well. Tim chuckles at her but she gives him a nudge, and he reluctantly joins in too. Even Cass is helping with the occasional note. Which leaves just me and Damian as the only sane people at this camp... who would have thought I'd ever say that.

"Hey," Tim says, taking a brief break from this group sing-a-long madness, "if I'm going down, you're coming with me, Jason."

"I have to do no such thing, you got yourself into this mess," I reply, "I have no one to please by singing."

Tim grumbles but gives up. I look at Damian, he's got his head resting on his hands trying to seem uninterested, but I notice him tapping his foot to the rhythm of the song. Dick's singing always has been contagious...

"Damian," I say, getting his attention, "I'll join in if you do, I guess."

"-tt- why would I want to get involved in this mess?"

I sigh, then reluctantly start to sing, wrapping my arm around Damian's neck, putting his head in a lock.

"Let go-"

"We're all going down together, brat. Sing and I'll let go."

He gives me a half hearted scowl, before starting to sing, I release him as promised. It doesn't take long for him to stop hiding his enjoyment, everyone's having a good time. We don't sound great, but at least no one else can hear us out here.

"Okay, you've had your fun," Barbara says to Dick as she starts to put the fish on some paper plates, "time to eat."

"Thank god," I say as I take the first plate. The fish tastes as delicious as I'd imagined, and everyone seems to agree as they take their first bites. Dick starts thanking Babs, Tim and Steph for cooking and catching the meal, and in the end, everyone else does too, even Damian. Then it's time for the-

"Marshmallows!" Dick says with a huge grin as he retrieves the pack from the car.

"I've had a lot of build up for these, I better not be disappointed," I warn him.

"You won't be," he replies, sure of himself as he hands me a skewer with a marshmallow on the end.

"So you going show me the technique to this or-"

"It's not hard, Jason. And everyone likes theirs differently, just hold it near the fire until you think it's sufficiently roasted for you."

"Whatever you say."

I hold my marshmallow up to the fire at the same time as Dick, watching both as they start to turn from white to brown. Dick moves his away, and eats it off his skewer, so I do the same. It's not as hot as I expected, but as it melts in my mouth, the taste starts to explode across my tongue. Maybe these actually will live up to the hype. I grab another and place it on the end of the skewer, holding it up to the fire again. This time keeping it there for longer, waiting until it's starting to melt and drip onto the ground.

"Mmmmm."

Even better, that's how I like them.

"I told you, roasted marshmallows are the best," Dick says with that I told you so face of his.

"They're okay... I guess," I say with my mouth still full.

He chuckles and pats me on the back, "well there's plenty more if you want them anyway."

"Good," I say as I grab the whole bag.

* * *

 **Dick's POV**

"So how about some stories around the campfire?" I suggest.

"Only if we're doing scary stories, otherwise I'm out," Jason insists.

"Well does anyone have any scary stories to tell?" I ask.

"I do," Damian jumps in, "this is a story about an owl and a ghost," he declares dramatically.

"Does it involve the Court of Owls?" Tim asks.

"So what if it does, Drake?"

"I just don't think we should do any stories involving real villains, this is meant to be a vacation from all of that."

"-tt- but everyone knows all the best horror is based on reality, you would too if you could read."

"And we're already back to this," I sigh, "Okay, I'm sure it's a great story, Dami. But I think everyone needs to be into it for us to do this, sorry."

"Your loss," he replies as he folds his arms.

"Anyone else have any ideas, scary or not?" I ask.

Steph puts her hand up, and begins to tell us a scary story. There are some plot holes since she's just making it up on the spot, but it's not bad, she even comes up with a twist ending. Most of us are impressed, but-

"I thought we weren't allowed stories based on real villains?" Damian asks.

"That didn't have any real villains in it," Steph replies, "trust me, if it did that would have been way easier."

"I could clearly see the influences of several well known serial killers," he points out.

"Well I had to get inspiration from somewhere."

"So it's one rule for her and another for me then?" he asks, turning to me.

"He kind of has a point, Tim," I say.

"Fine, go ahead," he waves Damian off.

So as the night goes on, we hear Damian's story, which is actually pretty imaginative, he's always been a talented storyteller when he puts the effort in. After that we just get to chatting and catching up with each other, before people start to make their way into their tents, eventually leaving just me and Barbara alone with the dwindling campfire.

"So how's the trip been so far for you?" she asks as she scoots up closer to me on the grass, "has it been like what you imagined?"

"What I imagined? No, I never planned on running into a bear," I chuckle.

"You know most people would find that scary, not funny," she points out.

"Oh I did at the time, trust me. But we got out okay, I guess I got used to shaking that stuff off with what we usually do at this time of night."

"But other than that, it's been good?"

"Oh yeah, I mean we've fought over stuff as you've seen, but I expected that. Compared to the usual stuff, it could have been much worse. This whole thing has been quite relaxing really now that I think about it."

"Speaking of which," she says as she lies down on her back, guiding me to follow her with her arm, "this is definitely relaxing."

"Wow," I reply as we look up at the night sky together, Gotham's so light polluted that you don't really see many stars. The sunset is the best you can hope for. This though, a sky literally filled with stars, is far more beautiful, "so how has your trip been?" I ask as I place my hands behind my head.

"It's been great, we've not even had any fights unlike you guys. Although we tend to let out our frustrations when working together instead. I'm not sure if that's better or worse now that I think about it," she giggles.

"Either way, as I was telling Damian earlier, it's those frustrations that make you truly appreciate moments like this," I say.

"Absolutely, now this moment," she scoots up closer to me before grabbing my hand, "I can appreciate."

We sit there for a while, just taking in the view and each other's company. As the fire starts to go out, we hug each other for warmth and comfort, not wanting the moment to end. Eventually, I figure sleeping out with the stars isn't such a bad idea, and let my eyes close.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter, probably have just one more left of this. Let me know if you have any ideas for camping activities they can do on their last day, and as always super thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed the story! ;D**


End file.
